1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications and, more particularly, to methods and systems for associating an identifier of a user with an identifier of a communication device being used by the user.
2. Description of Related Art
In the traditional model of wireless telecommunications, user and device are often treated as being linked together. For example, a wireless communication device, such as a wireless telephone, may be associated with a mobile directory number (MDN) such that calls to that MDN are routed to that particular wireless telephone. In addition, the MDN may also be used to identify a particular user, e.g., a user's account and the services to which the user has subscribed.
However, users are increasingly using different types of communication devices to access packet-based services, such as Web browsing, voice-over-packet (VoP) communication or streaming media. For example, a user may use a wireless communication device when away from home but may switch to a landline communication device, such as a personal computer, when the user is at home. Thus, a user might use different communication devices at different times. As another possibility, a user might be logged onto multiple communication devices at the same time. In addition, the same communication device may be used by different users at different times. The different users may subscribe to different services and may have different preferences applied when using the communication device.
This possibility that a user could be using any of a plurality of different communication devices at a given time can create challenges. For example, it may be difficult to direct an instant message or other notification to a particular user when that user could be using any one of multiple communication devices at a particular time. The problem is exacerbated by the possibility that the IP address of a user's communication device may also be variable. For example, an IP address may be dynamically assigned to a communication device on a temporary basis, e.g., for a particular communication session. In addition, a wireless communication device's IP address may change when the device moves between wireless coverage areas.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems that can keep track of which communications devices are currently being used by which users.